Ah yes, the Abyss provides an option that could ruin the game's reactivity if used during the Third "act". Closing makes more sense now.
PS. I don't recall ever claiming that I don't believe in good. I understand it's tempting to make shit up for the greater lulz, but I'm sure you can bitch about the game without it.
I was referring to a post I made (and you replied) in ITS Forum back in 2012. After some searching, I found your exact words:
Me: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me 61465161651 times and I start wondering if
the developers even believe in good.
You: On a grand scale?
No.
Me: AoD leaves the impression that
there is no room for good deeds and everyone is out to scam you, rob you or just murder you for fun.
You:
Pretty much. Well, I'm sure that the kindness of strangers does exist and there are people who would give you a loaf of bread, a place to sleep, tend to your wounds and such, but overall the AoD world is a very harsh and bleak place.
I guess, the best way to look at it is to ask "what is 'good' and why should it be in an AoD-like world? What's there that would cultivate and encourage it?" Now, some people believe that there is some good in all of us. Some people believe in the very opposite:
"One of the first adopters of Legalism was the statesman Shang Yang of the State of Qin. ... Overall, Shang Yang advocated the belief that all people are fundamentally flawed and that stringent laws and harsh punishments are required to keep them in order. In addition, his theories thought all humanity was selfish and evil..."
Anyway, the world is harsh, but there are some true bros there. They won't rush to your aid the moment you fall and scrape your knee, but if you earn their respect and friendship, they will stand by you (which will make it even more special).
Even Miltiades isn't that bad. You were a nobody to him, some fool waiting to be parted with his money. Sure, his goons would have killed you, but in his business, getting rid of his victims is much more practical and sensible than letting them live. Nothing personal. However, if you survive his shenanigans (and show that you're a handy friend to have), he'll be a good and loyal friend to you. That whole thing really was a misunderstanding.
Source:
http://www.irontowerstudio.com/forum/index.php/topic,2917.0.html
So, your exact words man.
As you can see, I didn't make anything up. You can argue that I oversimplified your reasoning in order to make a lulzy headline (tho, if that were the case, "VD HATES PUPPIES, MORE NEWS AT ELEVEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!" would've been much better), but you would still have to deal with your own words. Also, strawman or no, I could argue that your reasoning on the second answer has nothing to do with "good". What you described there is called "friendship", "loyalty" or whatever. "Good" is about selfless sacrifice.
P.S: If you're going to read shoutbox then PLEASE read the whole thing. Don't cherry pick little bits just to feel butthurt. I said many times "AoD is gud" and "combat is better than Fallout" (countering allegations that combat in AoD is bad). If you wanna "fight teh haterzz" be my guest, but you're barking up the wrong tree here. I bought your game, despite the fact that my country's currency plummeted more than 50% in a couple of months (THANKS, DILMAIS!!!), played it till the end, recommended it to my friends, started a second playthrough, gave it a Steam thumbs up, a Metacritic 10/10 and discussed it on the Codex (both in the forums and in shoutbox). Ofc I have my grievances (isn't it what this place is about?), but overall I think it's a great game. So PLEASE, stop fighting your own supporters and give us an update on the whole "We need 30k copies to be considered successful" thing.